Verizon Plans to Stop Unsanctioned Tethering that Uses Unofficial Apps

[drew]

I use a decent amount of data and tether once in a blue moon. Same for my mom who is on my account. If they give me static ill just sell the phones to pay the etf and go to sprint kinda want to anyway.

But its a hassle i wont deal with unless i need to. FYI i have 10 meg cable internet so i don't use crappy 3g for home internet

Haha yeah I can't imagine how ppl use vzw a their isp...would remind me too much of aol circa 1999

My mother-in-law uses PDANet to tether her PC to her phone. She lives on top of a mountain where her only choices are dialup and Dish. She can't get cable, and DSL is not an option either. So given the choices, what would you do? It's 100 times faster than a dialup modem, and she can do what she needs to do online.

I hope that helps you imagine how some people use VZW as their ISP. It might not cover your particular needs, but it serves a niche.

 

[NeoandGeo]

I pull 3G speeds at between 400kbps-1.6Mbps depending on time of day, and the area I'm in. Its not cable, but it beats dial-up hands down all the time.

 

[SquireSCA]

Here in Atlanta, 3G stinks. Been in all different parts of town, and VZW 3G is a fraction of the speed that AT&T's 3G is.

That's why I won't pay to tether and never really do, it simply isn't worth paying an extra $20 for what amounts to dial-up performance. It would be better for me to get a Sprint 4G aircard and put that in the laptop.

I don't mind spending money on an additional service, but it has to be one that I can use and VZW's 3G performance is one of the worst on the market, at least in this area...

 

[bosshog85]

That sucks. I'm usually the hero when it comes to giving my friends wiring for their iPods. Ah well....

Sent from my SCH-I400 using DroidForums

 

[bosshog85]

Hey out of curiosity, if you lived in a place like Omaha where there's 4G, would the phone use the 4G or go to 3G? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

Sent from my SCH-I400 using DroidForums

 

[czerdrill]

I use a decent amount of data and tether once in a blue moon. Same for my mom who is on my account. If they give me static ill just sell the phones to pay the etf and go to sprint kinda want to anyway.

But its a hassle i wont deal with unless i need to. FYI i have 10 meg cable internet so i don't use crappy 3g for home internet

Haha yeah I can't imagine how ppl use vzw a their isp...would remind me too much of aol circa 1999

My mother-in-law uses PDANet to tether her PC to her phone. She lives on top of a mountain where her only choices are dialup and Dish. She can't get cable, and DSL is not an option either. So given the choices, what would you do? It's 100 times faster than a dialup modem, and she can do what she needs to do online.

I hope that helps you imagine how some people use VZW as their ISP. It might not cover your particular needs, but it serves a niche.

i think it's a safe bet that most ppl who do it are not helping their mother who lives on top of a mountain. Yours is a unique case, not the norm.

Most ppl do it just cuz they can and they feel like they're getting one up on vzw

 

[NeoandGeo]

They feel like they are getting what they pay for, more than getting a leg up I would say.

 

[SquireSCA]

They feel like they are getting what they pay for, more than getting a leg up I would say.

He has a point. Half the people do it just because they can. If they had to pay for it, they wouldn't because they really don't need it.

Which kinda takes away some of the bite about VZW whining that they are losing revenue from people tethering. I mean, for you to show a loss, you have to show that they are taking what they otherwise would be paying for.

But most of us would never pay for it in the first place because we really don't need it, so if there was no alternate way to tether, it isn't like VZW would suddenly see all that revenue as people signed up for it.

 

[NeoandGeo]

They are doing it because they can. I am also willing to bet that when they do it they feel they are getting what they pay for more than having to pay an extra $20 to tether, and be hard capped.

 

[SquireSCA]

They are doing it because they can. I am also willing to bet that when they do it they feel they are getting what they pay for more than having to pay an extra $20 to tether, and be hard capped.

I would support something in the middle... Like they include tethering in the tiered plans. Think about it... You pay $30 for 2 gigs... If you use that all up tethering because it chews it up faster, than you pay the overage fees. 2GB is 2GB, if that is the allotment that I am PAYING for, then I should be able to eat that data with a fork or a spoon, my choice. If my tethering causes me to use up the food faster, then I get dinged for the extra data that I eat.

For the unlimited plans, charge the $20 fee. The guy paying for the 2 gig plan and tethers, isn't going to abuse it because he is going to get raped on the overage charges...

But for many of us that just use the phone most of the time, are on Wifi 80% of the time anyway, it just doesn't make sense to shell out the extra cash for a feature that will rarely be used... I never come close to 2GB on my DX.

So it really isn't fair for people that might pay $30 for data, use a fraction of that data that they payed for, and then have to pay for that data a second time because a fraction of that was used on their tablet through the phone.

It's shady. Putting it in the contract that you sign may make it legal, but it is still shady.

 

[chumunga]

how would they know that your using an illegal app to tether anyways, other then to monitor you up stream and downstream and check what sites your view, hell i run pandora and youtube to death on my phone probably more then people who tether to surf the web.

 

[Brockjava]

YES LOL of course haha

I will continue to find ways around it.

 

[chumunga]

well my question wasn't will they, its obvious they will, but the HOW... what is there approach to detecting the user?

 

[Tuktanuk]

I totally disagree!!! We are already PAYING for UNLIMITED DATA!!!! Stop siding with the companies damn it! UNLIMITED MEANS UNLIMITED!! Why in the hell should they care HOW I use my UNLIMITED data!??? Weather I use it on my phone or through my phone should be no different! Any company charging a person to Tether is just raping the customer for some total B.S. "service" Don't let them get away with this!! Our rights as consumers and legal citizens just keeps downsizing and no one seems to give a crap...

 

[SwiftLegend]

Don't you just love paying for data twice? This is just dumb. What's it difference between downloading 5 GB on my phone or 5 GB on my laptop, tether'd with my phone? Pretty lame that we have to pay to use a native feature on our phones, that uses something we already pay for...